By performing a thorough analysis of outdoor advertising installed on the main avenues and highways of Mexico and the United States, I have found that these advertisements consist of structures that are too robust and expensive, which is justified mainly by the resistance these must have against strong winds, especially during hurricane and cyclone seasons. Usually, this type of advertisements are manufactured in local workshops that offer welding services, where each advertisement, once it is finished, requires a hydraulic crane of great dimensions in order to be placed on a platform and transferred to the place where it shall be installed. A similar crane is required to unload and place the components of the advertisement. Due to the size of these advertisements, it is very hard to move more than one of these structures on one platform, which increases the total cost per unit.
Currently, outdoor advertising materials generally offer two sides and they weight around 8 to 12 tons, which represents a latent risk for the people living or passing by the streets or avenues where these ads are installed. We frequently hear about these advertisements falling down during strong winds in the main cities of the country, with consequences that can be fatal.
The structure proposed herein, which is fully described below, looks just like the structures we can find on avenues and they have very similar dimensions, the difference relies on this structure being able to not putting up resistance against strong winds, which discards potential collapse of the structure. In contrast with the currently used ads, this structure us built with leaner materials and smaller cells which make it much lighter; thus, reducing the cost of materials for its construction, the cost for workforce to build it, the cost for the foundation required for the installation; the cost of the fleet to transfer it, and the cost of the cranes involved in the process to lift it and place it on the platform and to install it. The screen that shows the ad on the upper part is preferably built with aluminum and plastic materials, always offering the option to show ads on both sides. Electronic screens, moving shapes or artifacts can be placed on the screen, as well as devices projecting an image or video on the surface of the screen.
I have paid special attention to the staff in charge of removing and placing the canvas fixed to the screen on the top part of the conventional ads, around 20 meters high. When asking them how risky their job is, they explained the danger this entail, and actually most of them remember some incidents that have had fatal results for their co-workers or incidents that caused permanent disabilities. They mention that just a slip or a simple wire making contact with the power lines are some of the accidents that can lead to fatal consequences.
The invention herein offers the option to lower the upper screen, either to replace the ad, or perform maintenance activities, or to perform repairs. By lowering the screen the accidents and risks the staff is exposed to when performing such activates are significantly reduced.
Any operation related to some component of the structure will be performed, virtually, at ground level, or using small ladders.
It is also quite obvious that the traditional ads lack of an efficient and standardized system to anchor and fix the canvas to the screen, causing installers to use galvanized wire, ropes and plastic straps, which have to be broken and discarded once a new canvas is installed. This definitely extends the canvas installation time, causing an additional expense for these types of consumables, and this does not guarantee and even and constant tightening of the whole surface of the canvas. The lack of tightness on the canvas, as well as the enlarging effect thereof caused by solar heat, leads to looseness and it facilitates the destruction of the canvas by the wind, not to mention the appearance of wrinkles and bending of the canvas, which affects the clarity of the ads shown.
Another important element in our times is urban aesthetics, which is negatively affected by the robustness of this kind of ads placed on main avenues. The resistance these structures must have against strong winds has caused manufacturers to leave aside the visual appearance and the urban image, focusing on reinforcing and strengthening the components of the ad to face the natural phenomena that seem to be more and more frequent in our planet.
The invention herein presents a pedestal formed by at least two tubes whose diameters are smaller than the ones used for these ads, as well as a much leaner screen that the traditional ones, whose profile is narrower on the top part, which makes it lighter, more aerodynamic and, certainly, more aesthetic. This makes this structure an excellent option to reduce the visual pollution caused by the robustness of conventional outdoor advertising.
We have frequently witnessed how problematic it is to deal with graffiti in big cities, and outdoor advertising is no stranger to this situation. The ladders on the sides of the ads and the passageways that can be seen right below the screen located at the top have been used by gangs and vandals to climb to the upper part and paint on top of the ad, mainly with spray paint. This definitely entails a negative image for the product being advertised; it shows the proliferation of this activity to the visitors and tourists, it leads to additional expenses for the owner of the ad as they must replace the damaged ad, and sometimes it damages the commercial relationship between the company that owns the ad and the company that wants to be advertised or is planning to be advertised.
The structure proposed herein does not involve stairs on its pedestal, nor passage ways next to the screen; thus it is virtually impossible for gangs and vandals to climb and walk from side to side of the screen to spray paint the ads shown, the way it happens with traditional ads.
This lead me to design and propose a new outdoor advertisement structure that brings a solution for all negative aspects described in these paragraphs; thus, I am asking for the protection of such invention through the patent request herein. The structure to be patented is described below through several figures that represent some of the preferred execution forms, as an illustration, not a limitation.